


Grape

by sp201120122013



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-03
Updated: 2013-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-17 14:40:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/868706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sp201120122013/pseuds/sp201120122013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shinji and Kaworu take a picnic trip.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Grape

"Here, Shinji. This is nice, isn't it?" Kaworu asked, stretching a hand out to the shorter, sweating boy beside him.

 

"Um, it is, I-I suppose," Shinji stuttered out, trying to readjust the heavy picnic basket he was carrying in his arms. 

 

They had walked at least a mile out of the city to get to this spot, and Shinji had carried the basket the entire way. Kaworu was carrying two plastic bags of food, but while Shinji was nearly falling over on his feet from the walk and the weight, Kaworu seemed completely unaffected. Shinji set the picnic basket down, wiping the sweat off of his forehead and crouching down, placing his hands on his thighs. 

 

"The um, the grass is really overgrown out here," Shinji said, looking up at Kaworu. Kaworu only smiled, shaking his head just slightly before extending his hand to Shinji again. 

 

"Here," he repeated.

 

Tentatively, Shinji reached back to Kaworu, letting his sweaty palm slide into the cool pocket of Kaworu's hand. Despite the sun and the late summer heat, Kaworu hadn't even broken a sweat. Shinji felt soggy, disgusting beside him. He shifted uncomfortably, but Kaworu put his other hand around his shoulder, steadying him and pulling him closer. Shinji's head tipped onto Kaworu's shoulder, and he felt one of Kaworu's hands move through his hair. His hands were so cool, both of them, as was his body. Shinji was boiling, but Kaworu was still as cold as the underground NERV headquarters that they had left.

 

"I love you, Shinji," Kaworu repeated for the third time that day. He'd told Shinji when he first saw him in the morning, when they had set out walking, and now here those words were again upon reaching their destination. And still, Shinji had no idea how he ought to respond. 

 

Shinji didn't need to respond though, as Kaworu's next words to him were "let's eat." Together, they began to unload the plastic bags and the picnic basket that they had stocked earlier that morning. Shinji had prepared box lunches for both of them, copying the recipe that he had previously prepared for Rei and Asuka. He couldn't be sure that Kaworu would like it in the first place, however. He hadn't yet been around Kaworu enough to be sure of the other boy's tastes. He was worried about causing a problem.

 

Pressed for variety, Shinji had also pulled random processed foods off of the shelves of Misato's apartment. There were bags of potato chips, cans of soda, and even a beer. Shinji thought maybe Kaworu could be into that, despite his age. But instead, Kaworu pulled the can out and laughed upon reading the label, popping the tab off of it and dumping the contents into the grass, leaving a bubbling puddle of liquid. "We don't need that, Shinji."

 

"A-ah, maybe, maybe this, then?" Shinji asked, handing Kaworu a can of lemonade. He was embarrassed that he had even thought to pack the beer in the first place. Kaworu accepted the lemonade gladly though, opening the can and offering it to Shinji after one sip. Shinji took it and drank, realizing with a flustered sputter after the fact that he had just tasted Kaworu's saliva on the rim of the can.

 

"Shinji, you dripped. Look at you," Kaworu said, gently, wiping a dribble of lemonade from the corner of Shinji's mouth. He licked his thumb after the fact, causing Shinji to burn in a blush while Kaworu attended to the picnic basket. "Do you want to start on the main course? It looks like you made a real feast, Shinji. I can't wait to taste it," he said, opening up one of the box lunches.

 

Shinji opened a lunch of his own, eating quietly beside Kaworu, who was eagerly digging into the box. Kaworu kept complimenting Shinji, pulling individual pieces of the lunch out and praising him on their construction. All Shinji could do was nod and lean into Kaworu as he was pulled closer on the grass. It pricked his fingers and even though he said nothing of it, Kaworu picked up one of Shinji's hands, examining the palm.

 

"We ought to set a blanket down," he said, pushing himself off of the ground and reaching into one of the plastic bags to pull out a large, navy blue blanket. It was the same regulation color as all of the other blankets inside NERV headquarters. Shinji realized that Kaworu must have pulled it from his bed. 

 

"Get up, Shinji," said Kaworu. Shinji got up and stepped aside to let Kaworu spread out the blanket, and then made to sit back down on the newly covered ground. 

 

He wasn't able to sit normally, however, as Kaworu immediately grabbed him around the waist, pulling him down to fall into Kaworu's lap. Shinji's cheeks flared, immediately self conscious of the sweat collected beneath his shirt, how damp his back was as it now pressed against Kaworu's stomach. Kaworu didn't seem to notice, and only wrapped his arms tighter around Shinji after he tried to pull away. "Calm down, it's okay," he whispered into Shinji's ear. "There's no need to try and pull away. Nothing is wrong."

 

"Nothing's wrong, huh? I...guess you're right..." Shinji said, letting his body relax and fall into Kaworu's. 

 

"So what else is in your basket, Shinji? Did you pack sandwiches?"

 

"I-I did!" Shinji exclaimed, leaping out of Kaworu's arms to lunge towards the picnic basket again. "I brought egg salad, and tuna salad, a-and chicken, and--"

 

"Did you bring any fruit?"

 

"Fruit!  Yes! I did! There are apples, and there's peanut butter to go with them, and there are some pears, and some oranges, oh! And there are grapes, too. Do you like any of that, um, Kaworu?"

 

"It all sounds wonderful," Kaworu said, smiling and scooting closer to Shinji on the blanket. "You should pick what you want to eat first, Shinji."

 

"Oh, but--"

 

"Don't say it's for me, Shinji. This whole day is for the both of us. And most importantly, it's for you."

 

"For, for me?" Shinji stammered, his cheeks turning red again. 

 

"For you. In celebration." Kaworu said, kissing Shinji on one of the reddest spots of his cheeks.

 

"Celebration?"

 

"Of everything you are," Kaworu said simply, taking a slice of apple from the picnic basket and shoving it between Shinji's lips before he could open them again to protest.

 

\--------

 

"Kaworu."

 

"Yes, Shinji?"

 

The two had finished eating, both filled to their limit with the food Shinji had prepared for their outing. Kaworu hadn't ceased to praise it once, even when his mouth was about to burst, chicken salad dribbling out of his mouth. Shinji couldn't eat as much for nervousness, dropping potato chip after potato chip on the ground, but he grinned at every word, even when the words were only complimenting food he had bought at the store.

 

At this point they were lying side by side on the picnic blanket, Shinji having rolled over at this point to face Kaworu. There was still a distance between them, a distance Shinji was too shy to fill and Kaworu too distracted to notice. He was staring into the clear blue sky as Shinji held a hand in front of his face, pinching his fingers together and squinting.

 

"Kaworu, from this angle, your head looks as small as one of those grapes that we were eating earlier."

 

"Does it?" Kaworu laughed, tilting his head away from the single cloud he'd been focusing on to look at Shinji instead.

 

"Yeah! And if I do this," Shinji said, squeezing his fingers together, "it's like I'm popping your head like a grape!"

 

"Like a grape, hm?" Kaworu laughed again, rolling closer to Shinji to touch their lips together, to wrap his arms around him, and to close the distance between each other on the blanket.

 

\----

 

_Like a grape_

 

 

_Like a grape_

 

 

_Like a grape_

 

_\----_

 

Shinji felt his hand move out of his control, the gargantuan metal palm of the Eva unit squeezing itself around Kaworu's body. He saw Kaworu's head smashed between the layered metal plates, the blood spurting out of what used to be his skull, his mouth, the mouth that uttered the only words of care Shinji had ever truly taken to. There were sirens blaring all around him (he thought), there was screaming contained within the small piloting of the area he occupied (whether it was his own or that of others, he couldn't tell), and in his nose, he smelled fresh grass (in the picnic of his head) and blood.

 

He couldn't remember the last words Kaworu had actually spoken to him.

 

He couldn't recall the expression on Kaworu's face, and every image around him was fading in the first place.

 

The dark interior of NERV was being replaced with a clear blue sky, and the concrete with grass. He smelled fresh air, he tasted something sweet (maybe it was vomit), and Kaworu was still in front of him.

 

And again and again, his fingers pinched together.

 

Kaworu's face was there, then gone.

 

"Like a grape, Kaworu. Your head's like a grape between my fingers."

 

Shinji started screaming, and he didn't stop.


End file.
